The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1887-02-12
ADVENTURES OF 1 SAINT.
[Cineinnali Enauirer.I

Gest of the Art Museum, have
lately been enthusiastic and anxi-
GUS to purchase a work of art that
is the heirloom of NJ. Aehille Oil
vieri, aud which an Enquirer man
was permitted to look at yesterday
afternoon. 1t is mosaic picture
in colors, which weighs 150 pounds
and is about two feet by two and
a half square. representing the
Discovery of the Remains of ST.
Marcus the evangelist and patron
saint Of Venice. The picture was
seven years in being completed BY
the artist, Slgnor Luigi Taddei,
of Rome, who was working at the
mosaic factory of the present ow.
ner's father, who bore all the ex.
pense, and for il was ennobled.
The picture was exhibited all over
Europe, and the European art au.
thorities were loud in its praise.
Saint Marcus is not only the pa.
tron saint of Venice, but the coat
of arms of the city of the sea
bore the lion of st. Marcus, as
did the Venetian vessels on their
flags, while the money of the Re-
public showed the figure of the
evangelist on one side and the lion
on the other. The saint died in
Palestine, and when Venice was at
the height of her glory two mer-
chants, Buono di Kalamazoo and
Rustico di Tozeello, went to Jeru.
salem and stole the body from its
grave, packed it in barrel ofpork,
for which the Turks have q holy
horror, and safely landed it in
/
Venice.
Of course great fuss was rails.
cd when the body of their patron
saint was brought back, and they
erected an elaborate tomb, and
over the tomb q cathedral called
st. Marcus, which cost many mil
lions of dollars. During the mid
die ages the tomb was repaired,
and the remains could not be
found. They were lost for a few
hundred years, when the cathedral
being repaired, they were found
while Doge Giovanni Partecipasio
was the ruler. The picture repre-.
sents the discovery and identified.
ton of the remains. The Doge
ordered a mosaic picture to be
made representing the scene and
set in one of the arches at the en-.
trance to the church, where 1t is to
be seen to this day. The original
for this mosaic picture was design
ed by Paulo Rizzo and executed IN
by Sebastiano del Pozzo, the best
mosaic setter of that age. The
Academy of Fine Arts of Italy, dc.
slrous to see whether the artists
of modern times could equal those
of former ages, offered a prize to
the artist who would copy tho
picture equally good in workman
ship of the Byzantine style. This
present picture, after seven years
of labor, was produced. AS an
illustration of the minuteness of
the labor-the head of one of the
figures is about the size of a
nickel-when the eye is examined
with o powerful microscope 1t is
seen to be made up of fourteen
tiny pieces of mosaic. The hand
of the Doge, who is at the foot of
the corpse, is extended, and the
artist was one month in making
| this.
The picture has had remark.
able history. Chevalier Olivieri
was appointed Commissioner for
Italy at the time of the Interna-
tional Exposition at Melbourne,
Australia, and when the corvette
sent out by the italian govern
ment to convey the treasures was
returning the vessel was damaged
by striking rock near the Island
of Ladrone. The frame of the pic.
ture was ruined. Again III Sep.
tember, 1884, the picture was ship.
ped by the steamer Austria to
New Orleans. October the 25th
the vessel was lost on the shores
of Scotland, and months after.
wards the box containing the pic.
ture was washed ashore. Super.
stitious people the world over be
lieved that Providence would not
destroy the treasure on account ol
st. Marcus, and the Bishop oi
Venice bestowed upon it his bles
sing. Archbishop Elder and Q
number of Catholic priests here
visited the picture out of curlos
, ity. In detail the picture repre-
, sents the remains of st. Marcus
as the authorities are identifying
them. The body of the saint lies OF
a sarcophagus covered with a pal
! of purple velvet bound with thu
fringe of gold. Near the foot il
the Doge, with his hand extended
} Ermine fur covers his shoulders